Posted by Dinah on July 7, 2008, at 12:39:51
In reply to Re: man...(note: sexual content) » Dinah, posted by Phillipa on July 7, 2008, at 12:18:16
I was on Luvox for four years, and went off it about five years ago. Every once in a while I'm tempted to go on again, but for the most part my mood dips don't last long enough to justify it.
I had mixed results with it, only because of a tendency towards hypomania. I started having side effects of mild hyperarousal, and my pdoc at the time kept thinking the answer was to up the doseage until I finally ended up at the max, and he wanted to go beyond. I think I refused, and he added Wellbutrin which put me beyond mild hyperarousal into hypomania. Not the nice sort.
When I found the pdoc I liked best lately (which isn't saying much), he immediately saw the problem. I had already quit Wellbutrin, and the mood stabilizer he added to the Luvox took away the bad effects. Which was basically that I always felt a bit itchy jumpy and that translated to my starting self injury.
Unless you have a tendency towards hypomania, I think Luvox is an excellent medication. I remember I was on it for a few weeks and I woke up feeling like my life was not destined to be a miserable horror. The OCD went way down, although that was probably a combination of Luvox and therapy. It kept me stable, but also left me a bit flat.
I'm very glad I took it, and would not mind taking it again. But my current pdoc doesn't want to consider SSRI's even with a mood stabilizer because of the itchy/jumpy/self injury stuff.
I think it's pretty individual, Phillipa. If you need an AD, and you're under a doctor's supervision, and you haven't had bad responses to SSRI's, I'd certainly say Luvox might well be a good choice, as long as you give it long enough to work.
For myself, I manage to control my anxiety with therapy techniques, a touch of klonopin to regulate early morning wakings, and as needed Risperdal. I do love the antipsychotics. They suit me.
Medications are pretty individual. You need to find what suits you. And I always think that therapy is a useful addition to a meds regimen.
Mind you, I'm woefully ignorant on meds. As they say, I just know what I like (or what works for me I should say.)
poster:Dinah
thread:838610
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080706/msgs/838640.html